458 A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL. 
least soil in which to strike root ; and many of these iso- 
lated rocks are gardens in themselves. One immense 
boulder in the path is split, and from its centre springs a 
palm all draperied in vines. Of the native trees, the Geni- 
papn (Genipa braziliensis), the Imbanba (Cecropia), the 
Carnauba (Copernicia cerifera), the Catole (Attalea hu- 
milis), and the Pao d'Arco (Tecoma speciosa) are most 
prominent. The latter is so named because the Indians 
make their bows from its tough, elastic wood. Though not 
native to the soil, bananas, cocoa-nut palms, orange-trees, 
as well as cotton and coffee shrubs, are abundant. The 
cultivation of coffee, which thrives admirably on the slopes 
of all the serras, is the great source of prosperity here-; but, 
at least in the sitios we have visited, it is difficult to judge 
of the extent of the plantations on account of the irregular 
manner of planting. The crops are, however, very large, 
and the coffee superior in quality. I found the climb up the 
precipitous serra exceedingly fatiguing. The people who 
live on the mountain come and go constantly, even with their 
children, on horseback ; but as our horses were from the 
city, and unaccustomed to mountain paths, we had preferred 
ascending on foot, especially as the rains had made the road 
more rough and broken than usual. A mountain scramble 
in this country is very different from the same thing in tem- 
perate climates. The least exertion induces excessive per- 
spiration ; and if, when thus drenched to the skin, you stop to 
rest, you are chilled by the slightest breeze. I was very glad 
when, after about an hour's climbing, we reached the sitio 
of Senhor da Costa, on the slope of the serra. Donna Maria 
laughed at me for coming up on foot, and said I should have 
mounted like a man, as she does, and ascended the serra on 
horseback. Indeed, I think a lady who is obliged to make a 
